Thursday, January 17, 2008

George Wins Lottery

I once went to a George Michael concert. It really wasn't my fault. The seats were free and Mrs PND really wanted to go. It was horrible. In fact, it was so bad I can still recall it vividly even though this was 1990.

Despite me, George went on to build a huge solo career and release popular albums during the 1990s. He hasn't done much recently unless you count arrests for recreational drug use, driving while intoxicated and performance of lewd acts in public. Some might say he was better at those than singing. Certainly more consistent. George was in the last episode of Extra's where he basically owned up to all of those 'errors of judgement' in a very hilarious way. Well done George.

Yesterday his autobiography became another in a long list of expensively purchased celebrity blather. I am sure everyone is all a twitter about whether George is going to name names and that can really be the only reason why any publisher would consider this a potential commercial success. According to Harpercollins, George is one of the most popular pop figures in the world and has an 'extraordinary story' to tell. They forgot to add the bit about 'humble upbringings' and his 'life of adversity'. HC has paid 'millions' and the deal is 'one of the biggest ever concluded in British publishing'

Will the book soar into the stratosphere or plummet like a stone. One thing is certain, I did my part back in 1990 and the book is not getting into the PND household. What more could he have to say that we don't already know?

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Michael Cairns

Michael Cairns has served as CEO and President of several technology and content-centric business supporting global media publishers, retailers and service providers. He can be reached at michael.cairns@outlook.com and is interested in executive management and consulting, board and/or advisory positions. I am currently Managing Director with Digital Prism Advisors where we advise clients on digital and business transformation.

My career spans a wide range of publishing and information products, services and B2B categories and my operating and consulting experience has largely been with brand-name companies such as PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Macmillan, Inc., Berlitz International, AARP, R.R. Bowker and Wolters Kluwer.

I have served as a board member of the Association of American Publishers (AAP), the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) and in addition to my responsibilities at R.R. Bowker, l also served as Chairman of the International ISBN Executive Committee.